About Jason Mewhiney's Case

NASA V. JASON MEWHINEY

I. Proceedings to Date

Jason originally faced fifty one charges and a $70,000 fine for his alleged involvement in the defacement of NASA's main page on March 5, 1997. This is however simply the culmination of years of harassment that Jason has faced from both the American and Canadian authorities.

A. Jason's current situation

Jason is currently serving a six-month prison sentence in Canada after entering into a plea agreement that reduced his charges. In sentencing him, Justice John Poupore said, "You sir, are a convicted criminal. That is a distinction you will carry with you for the rest of your life. It is nothing to be proud of." This is true -- there will be no badge of pride on Jason's sleeve when he leaves prison .When he does, it will be as convicted computer-criminal, potentially facing similar restrictions to those faced by Kevin Mitnick upon his release.

Jason began his sentence in a medium - maximum security prison in Sudbury, Ontario. Everyone in the prison was about twice his age. Most of them hard-core criminals, including several convicted murders serving 2 back to back life sentences.

About 2 weeks ago he was transferred to a facility in timmins ON, which according to Jason, is at least 10 times worse than the first prison. Jason has been forced to endure countless hardships in the short time he has been incarcerated. Despite the comparatively benign nature of his crimes, he is placed in same environment as murderers and rapists. He is only allowed 1 visit per week at 15 minutes per visit. His family has tried to bring him reading material -- harmless magazines like People -- but the prison has disallowed it.

In a recent incident, Jason went to brush his teeth after finishing his work as a cleaner at the prison. He saw another inmate cleaner come out of one of the bathrooms. Assuming the bathroom was free, the other he went in and brushed his teeth. A guard then came and said the bathroom was for guards only. He was written up for it, and given a reprimand for "misconduct". Three days were tacked onto his sentence as a result. This incident will likely jeopardize his parole -- which he may be up for soon -- but worst of all, they threw him in the "hole". Which according to Jason himself, isn't a bad enough description of the place. Solitary confinement in this prison consists of an unlit 11 x 6 room with no matress, bed, or window. Other prisoners sneak drugs in by "sticking them in their ass and shitting onto magazines to get them out." Even the notorious Canadian serial-killer Karla Homolka is not forced to live in such a Dickensian environment.

Update: You can write to Jason Mewhiney in Prison. Send any correspondance to:

Jason Mewhiney
Box 90
Monteith Ontario
P0K 1P0
CANADA

B. Sentencing

Jason was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to twelve of the fifty one charges against him. After his prison sentence, it is likely that he may serve a time under "house arrest". While under house arrest, Jason will effectively be banned from any and all computer use. This leaves Jason without his one marketable skill and will create massive problems for him when he is released. In addition to the prison-term and the possible restrictions upon his release, Jason has also been ordered to pay a $6000 fine. Six thousand dollars is far short of the original seventy-thousand that was being sought by NASA, yet it will still remain as a considerable financial burden to someone who will be left effectively unemployable after his release.

II. Analysis of the case

The original charges that Jason faced were completely blown out of all proportions. NASA claimed that to copy the backup of their index page back and reinstall and secure the machine cost them an estimated $70,000. Anyone with any experience of computers and computer security can see that this is a grossly inflated figure. You can read NASA's statement on the whole incident here. During the course of Jason's trial and conviction, thousands of dollars of taxpayer money were wasted on frivolous and unnecessary actions sanctioned by both the FBI and the RCMP. The RCMP agents and Canadian authorities involved in the case were all flown down to NASA headquarters for what essential added up to a free tour. American authorities and NASA officials were flown up to Canada on several occasions simply to attend the occasional short bail-hearing or pre-trial motion. Everyone was flown up to Canada again for the sentencing hearing, despite their presence not being required. Who ends up paying for all of this air-travel and accommodation? The Canadian taxpayer, in the end. Unfortunately, this never came to light during any of the reporting on Jason's case. Even though Jason eventually plea bargained and managed to avoid the huge fine and long jail term that he was threatened with, we still have to ask ourselves whether someone should be imprisoned for what was essentially no more than a prank. Can we continue to allow corporations and government agencies to arbitrarily pick numbers out of the air when accounting for "damages" that occurred as a result of a mere web-page defacement?